Cory Leadbeater has written an intimate memoir about his life his issues and problems.He also shares with us the time he spent as the iconic Joan Didion assistant even living with her.I enjoyed getting to know the iconic Joan Didion through his eyes. A well written memoir that I really enjoyed.#netgalley #ecco

A meandering memoir that promises a range of emotions, but was mostly just sad. I did not finish this one after putting it down in the middle, I just didn’t want to pick it back up.

Cory Leadbeater was Joan Didion’s assistant/companion during the final years of her life. I was somewhat nervous going into the book. While I am not a Didion completist, I did not want to see her exploited by someone she employed and trusted. I had no need to be nervous. The Didion of this book is a gentle, grieving, wise and elderly presence. Cory suffered from personal and familial trauma and his position in Didion’s house was a comforting aspect of his often tumultuous life. This memoir also happens to fall during the years of COVID and the Trump presidency and it was interesting reading about those events from his perspective. I did feel that it was meandering and not always coherent, but overall this will (and should be) a popular memoir about a relationship with an iconic author. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.

A memoir of a man who has had many struggles - father in prison, best friend died suddenly and a desire to be a part of a different class of people than his upbringing had prepared him for. Through his struggles he has a very bright light in working with Joan Didion for years.

The writing in this book was so well done - you could tell that Leadbetter agonized over all the word choices in order to find just the most precise word. But I found this book rather depressing. His life has been a dark one and it came through in the book. There was one very enlightening chapter describing the feelings of being suicidal.

Joy, Death and Joan Didion - I just didn't feel much joy while reading this memoir. Death was a prominent theme and not as much on Joan Didion as I would have like to have read. Joan was definitely a mentor and supporter but her influence was just not as in depth as I would have wanted.

The book was a worthwhile book to learn more about the inner workings of depression and suicide and for the prose.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my fair and honest opinion.